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My gut clenches, sweat beads on my upper lip, my mind races is twelve different directions, my mouth goes dry, and my hands shake—why? Because I’m speaking at my church this evening. And it’s not because anybody has twisted my arm—I want to do this. When I’m in the US, I want to speak as often as possible to anyone who will listen about Europe as a mission field. But I’ve always had a fear of public speaking, and even though it usually goes really well, and the audience is very sympathetic and supportive, that fear is lurking just out of sight, ready to make my voice crack or make me forget what I was going to say.

Fear of speaking in public is one of the most common fears around. Most of us would rather face a roaring lion, armed with nothing but a Twinkie than speak in front of an audience. But like I said, I want to do this. Facing-down this fear is the measure of how strong my calling is for Europe. If I didn’t do this, I would feel like I had abandoned my calling.

Europe is the forgotten mission field. A professor of foreign missions at Abilene Christian University told me that he asks his students at the beginning of the semester what is the mission field with the most need. They invariably answer Africa. Then after he has demonstrated to them that Africa is far more Christian than Europe, he will ask them again, and many times the answer is still Africa. The economic need tugs at their heartstrings, even though Europe is in far worse need spiritually. Operation World calls Europe by far the “most secular, least Christian” continent on earth (pg. 79). Europe also has the most un-reached people groups of any region in the whole world—including the Middle East. Africa is now sending missionaries to Europe.

Slavery – Human trafficking is epidemic in Europe because the relaxed borders have made it easier to transport people from Eastern Europe (primarily Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, and Romania) to Western Europe (Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany).

Poverty – People think of Europe as a rich peoples’ playground. And it’s true that rich people do vacation in Europe, but the average European makes far less money than the average American, and lives a simpler life. Furthermore, the third world exists throughout Europe at the edge of every city: in gypsy camps of staggering poverty. The gypsy children live in shockingly unsanitary conditions. Many gypsy children are denied an education due to their nomadic family life. Gypsy children are expected to bring money back to the patriarchs, the grandparents. They beg, steal, or work as prostitutes to bring money back to the family, and if they fail to bring back money or to bring back enough money, they are beaten. Sometimes their legs are broken and set in crazy ways that will turn your stomach. Sometimes their legs are cut off—giving them more sympathetic appeal. Many gypsy children are sold to sex traffickers or organ traffickers.

Homelessness – Homelessness is a huge problem. Budapest has an estimated 30,000 homeless people. I saw lots of homeless people when I was there, and the homeless of Budapest are unlike homeless people I’ve ever seen anywhere else. There are so many of them that they have simply lost all hope. They don’t even ask for money, they just curl up in doorways and in the subway entrances. (This is all recounted in my book, Look, Listen, Love.)

Suicide – Suicide is rampant throughout Europe, especially in the current economic climate. Fourteen of the top twenty countries with the highest suicide rates are in Europe. Switzerland legalized suicide in 1941, and under Swiss law, you do not have to have a lethal diagnosis to ask for physician-assisted suicide; you don’t even have to be Swiss! That means that if someone is depressed and wants to end their life, they can go to Switzerland, which is conveniently in the middle of the continent, and pay a doctor to help them kill themselves, and they don’t have to get any kind of counseling. In fact, the doctors would be against counseling because they make money on each suicide. Now suicide is also legal in the Netherlands. In Milan, where suicide is still illegal, and Switzerland is only an hour away, about once a month or so, somebody jumps in front of a speeding subway train. In fact, it is such a common occurrence that people have lost all sympathy for the victim and his or her family, instead they just become annoyed at the inconvenience that the suicide has caused them as they rush through their day.

Drugs – The city of Amsterdam is uniquely problematic because they have de-criminalized both prostitution and marijuana. Legalizing pot use has been discussed from time to time here in the US. The arguments for legalization seem very logical and reasonable, particularly when it comes to saving taxpayer money and law enforcement manpower. But before getting onto the bandwagon, you should take a trip to Amsterdam to see what legalized pot use looks like. Marijuana is only legal in the marijuana coffeehouses, but it doesn’t stay in the coffeehouses. And because pot is legal, tourists think that other drugs are also legal—they are not. No matter how harmless you may think it is, the fact is that marijuana is a gateway drug. The dealers of illegal drugs situate themselves along the canal in the Red Light district (more about that in a moment) and peddle their drugs to passers-by. They don’t stand around looking villainous, but instead they are very friendly. The dealers speak English and often the major European languages. Amsterdam is the number one partying destination in Europe, possibly in the world. So lots of young men travel to Amsterdam for legal sex with prostitutes and legal marijuana use. Many of them are lured into trying the harder drugs as well. The result is that the streets of Amsterdam are filthy with trash and vomit and people that are either homeless or too high to remember how to get back to where they are staying. The streets are also very loud all night long, with the sounds of hell-raising. There are so many people who are addicted to heroin that the city has started giving out free needles to try and keep the risk of HIV transmission low. So the parks are full of addicts that are shooting-up. And the free needle program has done nothing to stop the spread of HIV. Prostitution – Legalized prostitution in Amsterdam was supposed to help prevent the spread of HIV by having the Dutch Minister of Health responsible for making sure that all the window girls stayed healthy and conducted business in ways that reduced the possibility of transmission (i.e. washing the customers and using condoms). However, that has turned out to be impossible to enforce. Plus, the presence of legal prostitutes has not stopped or even slowed down illegal prostitution in the Netherlands. Let’s face it, supply follows demand.

The idea behind legalizing prostitution seemed like a good idea, but prostitution plays a part in all the above behaviors, like a European version of “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” but worse because of the whole drug issue discussed above. People believe that the window girls are independent businesswomen—they are not—at least not all of them. Many of the window girls come from other countries, mostly Eastern Europe and Africa. Those girls got there because they answered ads for jobs, and some even paid intermediaries who turned out to be traffickers to get them illegally into Europe. Few, if any, of them set out to work in prostitution. Like I said, the relaxation of borders within the European Union has actually worked to the traffickers’ advantage. And even if some of the women are voluntarily working in the windows of the Red Light district, they have invariably been sexually abused as children. As a woman, I can tell you that no little girl dreams of having dozens of sweaty, smelly men use and use and use her all day and all night long. Prostitutes use the same survival strategy that victims of physical abuse use: they have learned how to zone-out and not be in their bodies while it is happening. Despite the lies that the johns tell themselves, that doesn’t sound like it’s something they enjoy, does it? All of this means that Amsterdam, an otherwise lovely city, has become a haven for potheads, traffickers, drug dealers, and drug addicts.

Cynicism – The young people of Europe are among the most hopeless and cynical in the world. They go to university only to find that they are still unemployed and unemployable. East European youth are leaving their homelands in droves, seeking employment in the west. The employers take advantage of that desperation and pay them lower wages, and giving them the jobs that West Europeans don’t want. Most of the janitors in Italy are Romanian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, or Polish. Because they feel powerless, the youth are drawn into witchcraft and satanism. They recognize that there is genuine spiritual power therein, but don’t have the discernment to know the good from the evil. Turin, Italy is the European capital for satanism. Every so often, there is a ritually sacrificed body (either human or animal) found in the woods near Turin. It has become such a common occurrence that the news agencies have stopped reporting these findings. Many of these young people consider traditional religion a waste of time, and they don’t want to hear about anything of a religious nature. For this reason, missionaries in Europe have had to be very creative in sharing the Gospel.

I could continue, but I think this post is long enough. So, I take a deep breath, pray for at least an hour, and go pour my heart out for an hour or so about Europe. Suddenly, I understand exactly what Jeremiah meant when he said that if he tries to keep silent, God’s Word is like a fire shut up in his bones. God is good, and I want more missionaries to share His goodness with this lost and dying continent.

After only 3 hours, both Molly and I wanted to get back to the Prayer Center. It wasn’t a lot of sleep, but both of us got 3 very good hours of sleep. I love that we got to be the ones to launch the 24/7 prayer. It was out of my comfort zone, but so worth it! In fact, every time that I have stepped out of my comfort zone in response to God’s call, I have enjoyed it and been blessed.

And speaking of being called out of my comfort zone, God has encouraged me to speak to people here in Malta—strangers! Those who know me might be surprised, but I’m really quite shy, especially when it comes to talking to strangers. My mom is really good at striking up a conversation with a stranger, and seems to be able to do it anytime and anywhere, with grace and freedom. I have not enjoyed such ability or success whenever I have tried. But, since it is God that is calling me out of my comfort zone, I will do it, and will enjoy it and will be blessed.

In obedience, I have started to greet everyone I see on the street (except the ones that are talking on their phones). Most people have responded in a friendly way. In Texas I used to greet everyone on the street, even strangers. But in Milan and in the northeastern US, I have gotten such odd and sometimes hostile reactions that I stopped doing it. I spoke to the man next to me on the bus this morning, but found that his accent and the background noise made it really hard to understand him. Although he didn’t seem to be quite awake, he responded in a friendly way. When we got to the end of the line, he wished me a nice day.

Yesterday we had more prayer requests from the other Transform teams, and had a prayer meeting with local believers. One couple came with their 10 year old son, but soon after worship started, they suddenly left. I don’t know if they were offended by the freedom of our worship or if they had some unrelated issue. It definitely was not our intent to offend anyone. Malta is even more religiously Catholic than Italy—celebrating saint days with colored lights and garlands and fireworks and parades of statues in the streets. The Renewal Movement (Charismatic Catholicism) has begun here, but it is not the majority by any means. Most Catholics here, as in Italy, are nominal, ritualistically religious, or superstitiously religious. True faith is rare here in Malta. But it won’t stay that way.

Another issue for the Maltese is refugee boat people from Africa. Most of the boat people drown before making land, but such is the desperation of these people that they just keep coming. The same current that caused the Apostle Paul’s boat to shipwreck on Malta brings the African boats to these shores instead of to Italy (though many do land in Italy). The European Union has told Malta that they must keep the boat people, so the population of the island has changed dramatically. Many Maltese resent the presence of the Africans, feeling that their island has been invaded, their jobs taken, and their economy drained. The fact is that the European Union financially helps Malta, though I don’t know how much. Refugees are put into detention centers for a year while their backgrounds are checked. As you can imagine, this is not a quick process, working in cooperation with various African governments that do not want to have these people returned to be a drain on their own struggling economies. Then the refugees are released to find work that nobody else wants to do because of low pay or the danger involved.

Molly, who is a black African, discovered firsthand the anger and resentment of the Maltese for the African refugees. She was walking with 2 other girls from our team, and they spoke to people in the park. They asked one older man if they could pray for him. An ugly look came over his face and he pointed his finger at Molly, shouting: “Pray about them!”

The unexpected venom of his anger startled and hurt Molly. But later as she told us about the incident, Molly prayed for the man, forgiving him and releasing him to God’s love. While walking with Molly, I saw another older man who scowled at Molly. I turned to her and said, “Molly, I’m so sorry for the way that man spoke to you!” How terrible to be hated so much just because of the color of your skin! The man had no idea what a sweet person Molly is, or that she had come for the specific purpose of praying for his country.

Jesus is the chain-breaker, and He will break every chain and proclaim freedom to the captives. Yes, Lord! Break every chain! God is good!

Europe is a hopeless place, filled with hopeless people. That’s something that most tourists have no clue about. They come from places where there are jobs and plenty of money. They see the majestic Eiffel Tower, the famous tower of Big Ben, the historical Colosseum in Rome, and the romantic canals of Venice. They take pictures and go home thinking that they have seen Europe.

Trivia: Few have actually seen Big Ben because it’s the name of the clock’s bell

Trivia: Christians were fed to the lions in the Circus Maximus, not the Colosseum because it was a bigger venue and open to all, so it served as a warning not to join the Christians. The Colosseum was only open to the nobility and was where the Gladiators fought to the death.

The tourists might have had their pockets picked or seen (or most likely tried not to see) beggars in these beautiful places. If they were brave enough to ride the buses, trains, trams, or subway, they may have smelled someone near them who doesn’t use deodorant. These tourists go home thinking that they have seen Europe, too.

But the reality of Europe (or any place for that matter) can only be truly known by living here. Life in Europe is hard, and it’s hardest on immigrants. Americans must learn how to navigate ancient bureaucracies that are full of rules that make no sense—that’s just the way it’s done.

The Europeans have a love/hate relationship with America. They love our movies and TV shows, and the fact that we come in and spend money here, which boosts the economy. But they hate our loud and often obnoxious presence. America is the land of comfort and convenience, the land of efficiency and practicality. Most of Europe is none of those things. So when Americans come and complain loudly about the realities of Europe, it angers Europeans, who may wish that you would just quietly spend your money and go back to America.

The biggest difference between America and Europe is that Americans are an optimistic bunch. Even the most pessimistic and negative American is more optimistic than the average European. In a word, Americans have hope. Europeans have mostly given up hope. This hopelessness is what makes Europe “by far the most secular, least Christian” continent on earth, (Operation World, page 79). Europeans love our optimism, love the fact that we smile a lot, but they consider Americans naïve.

Here are some of the most hopeless groups of people in Europe (and probably in the world):

The Roma

There are Roma (gypsies) throughout Europe, and they are the most universally hated group of people by far. The Roma are not all lazy beggars and thieves, as most people think. In fact, they are quite industrious. However, because the majority of them have no legal documents, they cannot materially participate in European society. They can’t get jobs, so they create their own work. Some Roma are business owners, employing their family members. Others pick and sell flowers, wash windshields at traffic lights, or play music on the subway—all of which are forms of begging. Some of the gypsy girls visit the alley door of restaurants and shops, begging for food or money in exchange for sex. Some sit outside of churches, grocery stores, and cafes, begging. Some have broken and set their legs in crazy ways or amputated their legs, giving themselves a “beggar’s pay raise.” And, yes, some of them break into houses and steal whatever they can carry away.

Most of the Roma could not integrate into the rest of European society even if they wanted to. Their lack of legal documents also means that even if they have the money, they can’t buy or rent property. So they live in camps at the edge of town. Some camps are worse than others, but none of the camps are a place you would want to go, much less to live. Roma hygiene is practically nonexistent, even if the facilities are available to them—and often they are not available. Every Roma camp is the third world. Just outside the beautiful European cities that attract so many tourists are Roma camps: Paris, London, Rome, and Venice all have their Roma camps.

But the biggest barrier to integration is the Roma family, itself. At the head of every Roma family are the patriarchs, the grandparents. All family issues are decided by the patriarchs, and all money is brought to the patriarchs to administer. Roma family values are so foreign to the rest of us that it makes them a frightening mystery to most people. Understanding Roma family values will help you understand the Roma. In a nutshell, the family is everything to the Roma, and you serve the family, the patriarchs, by bringing them money. You might think, well my family is important to me, too. But here’s some examples of Roma family values at work:

Sending your daughter (or son or wife) out to sell herself as a prostitute brings money to the family, so that’s a good thing.

Paying to ride the bus, train, or subway takes money away from the family, so that’s a bad thing.

Passing your children around among the adults of the family to be used like sex toys trains them for prostitution, which will bring in money, so that’s a good thing.

Passing up an opportunity to steal something when no one is looking won’t bring money to help the family, so that’s a bad thing.

Selling your child either to traffickers or to black market human organ dealers brings money to the family, so that’s a good thing.

On that last point, the Roma are always happy with pregnancies because one way or another, they will find a way to bring money in to the family through that child. Do they love their children? Love doesn’t really enter into Roma family values. Money is really everything for them.

The Homeless of Budapest

When I was in Budapest, I wrote about the homeless in my book Look, Listen, Love. Budapest has an estimated 30,000 homeless people (Operation World, page 403). The homeless people that I saw didn’t beg for money. All over Europe, and indeed the world, homeless people beg for money. But not the homeless of Budapest. They have lost hope. They sleep in doorways and in the entrances to the subway. There are so many of them that the city seems to have given up hope of helping them. So the police don’t chase them away when they camp in a doorway, in the park, or in the subway entrance. I guess that’s help of some sort, but not much.

The Orphans

But the Roma and the homeless of Budapest, although hopeless, are not the most hopeless group of people in Europe. The most hopeless people are the orphans of formerly Communist Central and Eastern Europe. I met 1 just this week.

Mary came with a missionary family from Romania that stayed with me. She is the nanny to their 4 children. They are discipling her even though she hasn’t yet made a decision for Christ. They had to be very careful talking about her because although Mary doesn’t understand English, the children are bilingual. Little pitchers have big ears, and they also have big mouths!

What I understood between the lines is that Mary grew up in an orphanage. Most orphanages in the formerly Communist countries keep the children under very tight control. So they grow up sheltered, but not loved. Mary had never seen an elevator before. She had no idea how the thing worked, and preferred to take the stairs instead. When I was introduced to Mary, I did as with any introduction: I smiled and offered my hand to shake. Mary turned her gaze from my smiling face and reluctantly took the hand.

Mary clearly loves the children, especially the oldest, Sally, who is 7. She told the mother that Sally loved and accepted her when nobody else would. I suspect that Mary feels safer with someone who is younger and still quite small. Because she had never experienced love, she found it very hard to believe that anybody, the family, me, or even God could love her, only Sally. It is very much an issue of trust.

What I know about orphanages in the formerly Communist countries is what I learned from Stella’s Voice, a missions organization that goes to Moldova and rescues orphans, and Nefarious, a documentary about human trafficking, and from talking with missionaries who work with prostitutes. Orphans, particularly girls, need rescuing because when they reach their 18th birthday, the orphanage gives them a bus ticket and a little money, and they are left on a bench at the bus stop. The traffickers know this and come by to take the girls and set them up into a life of prostitution, usually in Western Europe. Since they have no skills and no life experience, the girls go along without a thought. Sometimes the orphanage directors will encourage the girls to “be friendly” with the traffickers even before they must leave the orphanage. In this way they learn that their only value is sexual.

With the ever-present children, I never was able to learn very much specifically about Mary’s life. All I know is that she is 29 years old, though emotionally I would put her more at 12. She has been with the family for 4 years. She has heard the Gospel and attends church with the family, but has never made a declaration of faith. The mother, who is also Romanian, told me that Mary’s inability to trust has at times made her so difficult to live with that she almost gave up on her. But the Lord told her that he put Mary into her home for a reason.

When you think of Europe, please remember that the beautiful places you’ve seen in pictures are only a small part of the reality. Europe is desperately in need of missionaries. There are some countries with almost no Christian presence—and that presence is hardly Christian, being either steeped in worship of the Madonna or loaded up with traditions that include curses for sale from the priest. Please pray for missionaries to answer the call to serve in Europe. Pray for the missionaries and pastors of Europe who have been laboring for years to bring in the final harvest. And if the Lord is calling you to come serve Him in Europe, please be obedient and answer that call! God is good, but there is no time to waste. The Day of the Lord is upon us.

I recently attended a conference, calling itself an “alternative conference to those applauding Emperor Constantine and the signing of the Edict of Milan.” This year marks 17 centuries since Emperor Constantine signed the Edict, legalizing Christianity in the Roman world. It’s called the Edict of Milan because he signed it here in Milan.

On the surface, it seems like the Edict was a good thing for Christianity. After about 300 years of persecuting and exterminating (feeding Christians to the lions, soaking them with oil and lighting them as torches, and crucifixion), instead of ending Christianity, it had continued to grow.

Constantine was no fool. He decided that if you can’t beat them, join them. So that’s what he did. Was he sincerely converted to Christianity? Only God knows, but probably not. The Edict was a political move to bring Christianity under government control—the opposite of the Biblical model, in which the government is under the control of God. The result was the ritualization of what had until then been Spirit-inspired rites (the Lord’s Supper, for example). And little by little through these rituals, the human doctrines replaced Biblical soundness (infant baptism and praying to saints, for example).

On December 8, 1854 the Immaculate Conception became a doctrine of the Catholic Church—a fact that many Catholics are unaware of. Many Protestants don’t realize that the Immaculate Conception is not about the sinless purity of Jesus, it’s about His mother, Mary, being born sinless. Of course, if Mary was a sinless, divine person, then Jesus could never have died for our sins. The only way that He could die in our place is if He was 100% human in body. If you’re interested in reading more on the subject, here’s a link: Immaculate Conception.

Ironically, the Edict, which was called the “Edict of Tolerance,” gave birth to a new anti-Semitic form of Christianity: Replacement Theology (link for those interested in knowing more about that). Before the 4th century, Christians were very much aware of their Jewish roots. But with the government-controlled version of Christianity, came a way to control the Jews. Despite having been scattered all over the known world, the Jews continued to grow in population and most refused to convert, but remained Jewish. Replacement Theology basically says that God gave up on the Jews and turned His attention and affection onto the Christians, instead. Of course, this doctrine shows a basic lack of understanding about God: He is not a man and He does not change His mind (Numbers 23:19). God is more than able to love Christians while still loving the Jews. It’s like being a parent. My sons are as different from each other as brothers can be, but I can and do love each of them equally. If I, as a flawed human mother, can love my children equally in their differentness, can’t God also love both the Christians and the Jews? Of course He can!

There were professors and clerics (Catholic, Evangelical, and Jewish), docents and intellectuals that spoke at the conference. They spoke on their particular areas of expertise, and in the end we were given the opportunity to sign a petition declaring repentance and true tolerance for the Jewish people and for the State of Israel.

Recently, I have lost some friends. These are Christian people who disagree with me on the true nature of grace. They have decided to stop being friends because I believe that grace does more than save your soul. (You can read more in my blog posts: Stop Complicating the Simple Things, Gracious Grace, Dis-Graceful Conduct, Generous Grace, and Blessed Reassurance, Part One.) I wanted to agree to disagree—extending grace to them—but they were unwilling. One of these former friends showed up at the conference, and was so surprised to see me there that when I greeted her warmly, she smiled and kissed me back. Then she scurried away from me, ostensibly to find a seat, and never said another word to me. This is at a conference about a new declaration of tolerance? I tried not to let it hurt my feelings, but I am human, and I did have genuine affection for this person. She used to be my cell group leader, for crying out loud!

This morning, the Word that the Lord gave me is Isaiah 65:17: “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” In meditating about this verse, I realized that God isn’t saying that we won’t have the ability to remember, but rather that we won’t have the motivation to remember. It’s like when you’re on vacation in a beautiful, tranquil place. It’s not that you don’t remember the stress of your daily life, it’s just that there’s no motivation in that setting to do so.

In considering these things even further, I remembered a sermon I heard by Chuck Missler in which he described this world as a digital simulation of the real world: An Extraterrestrial Message. I recommend watching that sermon (follow the link) because it is one of the most amazing explanations of the proof that the Bible is a supernatural book. His point is that Heaven is a more real reality than this world. I really like Chuck Missler because he’s unashamedly and unapologetically both Christian and intellectual. The 2 are not mutually exclusive!

I understand very well why the Bible says that all creation groans to be set free from the bondage of decay (Romans 8:21-22). I am groaning for it, too! I look forward to the day when all these injustices (as with the Edict) and misunderstandings (as with grace) are a thing of the dim past that is not worth remembering. God is good!

We met at the church to hear about the history of the Jewish people of Vienna. A brief overview shows that the Jews were welcome in Vienna, then persecuted and either killed or driven out (whenever they needed a scapegoat), then they were welcomed again and the cycle repeated.

Yesterday was rather like that for me: emotions up and down and up again. After the teaching we went to the city center and divided into 2 groups: prayer for the churches and prayer for the Jews. It was so hard to decide because I really wanted to go with both groups—and I was not the only one. So I put off the decision until the moment came to decide. The church group had far fewer members, so I went with them. And that was a good decision because my calling is for the church (missionaries), even though I do have a strong love for Israel.

We went into St. Stephan’s Cathedral there in the center. One teammate said that there was a chapel with Israeli etchings or something. I didn’t really catch exactly what it was, but we found a chapel that was set apart from the rest of the cathedral and had a glass door. The door was shut, but not locked, so we went inside. I don’t think that was the place we were looking for, but it was a perfect place to pray, with stools set in a circle around the room. To my delight, I found a kneeler, so I knelt to pray. Our prayers were full of emotion, which is not unusual, but the intensity and range of emotions was very unusual: one teammate lay on the floor weeping, then another started a battle prayer and we all roared (in our spirits), then spontaneous laughter as the Sweet Holy Spirit fell upon us. It was powerful. We had intended to pray there for 20 minutes, but in the end, we were there 40 instead. I had not been aware of the passage of time, nor had the others.

We moved on to the “New City” area near the Danube River. This was a whole area of new apartment buildings near a bridge. A prophet had recently prophesied that Jesus would enter the city of Vienna by crossing this bridge. The place where we had wanted to pray was closed off for construction, and although this was Labor Day for Austria, there was a workman there who let us into the construction area. We began searching for a good place to pray. First we found too much sun, then a shady area near the workman, but he had just turned on a noisy machine. Finally we found a small sandbox play area in the shade. There we prayed, proclaimed, and welcomed Jesus to enter Vienna.

I kicked off my sandals and enjoyed the cool sand on my feet. After prayers one of the teammates (a man from Slovakia) and I danced and sang a joyful song, waving flags. Then we went back to the center and got Italian gelatos while we waited for the other prayer team to arrive.

From there we went to a prayer meeting where several churches attend together. We prayed for the sick and there were many miraculous healings. Then we broke into groups of 3-4 and prayed a few minutes for the topics given to us. When we were told to pray for trafficked people the mood changed from joyful and triumphant prayers to brokenhearted prayers. I was reminded of the girls that Clara (the pastor’s wife from Romania) had told me about.

I also thought about a friend from Eastern Europe who had recently told me that she had been a prostitute. You would never imagine it. She’s a sweet twenty-something Christian girl, who had thought that she had no future. But she met Jesus and found that she is worth so much more than all the money that men had paid to use her body.

Thinking about these girls broke my heart, and I cried my heart out for them and for all their sisters. I was not the only one to weep for them. Tears are prayers, too.

When we returned to the church, I flopped down on the floor, kicked off my sandals, and put my feet up. It felt good to rest. After dinner we laughed, but not with our usual hilarity. I think we were all just so tired. It had been a good, but emotionally draining day. God is good!

“Take a walk,” the Lord told me. So I put on a light jacket and headed out. It was a nice, sunny day, and much warmer than it has been in months. When I got to the piazza near my house, I took out my camera and took some pictures of the flowering trees—straight overhead shots so that they were against that background of clear blue. I took another picture of petal litter because the trees are raining petals. Petals make a much prettier fall than leaves in autumn, and they smell a lot better, too.

Yesterday was a miserable day. It is always difficult eating again after a 3 week fast. Your stomach has to re-learn how to digest solids, and the size has shrunken. I know this, and had eaten only a very small meal, but it was still too much. I woke up with severe stomach cramps (not abdominal, these were localized to the organ, itself). Then about 12 hours after eating it, the meal came back up, untouched by digestive acids. The Lord told me to lay on my left side, and I was able to sleep. But when I rolled onto my right side, my stomach immediately cramped again. It felt like a rock a little bigger than my fist, just under my heart. You can’t even imagine the pain.

Now, some people will read that and say, “Why fast, then?” Fasting is an important spiritual practice. I just haven’t gotten very good at getting back into eating again. But there are things that you must fast and pray to get to a deeper level. Am I going to quit fasting just because I go through some physical pain? (Really excruciating pain!) No! Because it is more important to me to have that time of closeness with God. Besides, He did help me through it.

About mid-afternoon I began to feel better, but still not 100%. I went to bed about 7:30 and slept 8 hours straight through—something I haven’t done in decades. This morning, although I woke early, I felt really good. I had some business to take care of (printer problems and a dishwasher that sometimes wouldn’t drain), but those things that had seemed enormous when I was feeling so bad turned out to be very easily and cheaply fixed. And that’s when the Lord told me to take a walk.

But flowering trees and petal litter, although nice, were not why He had me get out. My spirit’s attention was called to 3 things:

A notice about a missing cat

A street vendor hawking his wares

A massage parlor

You don’t see this so much in the US, but here in Italy there are people who set up tables outside the subway entrances or the grocery stores and sell belts, hats, sunglasses, umbrellas, cellphone covers, or purses. Many of them have their spot and will return there daily to set up shop. These people do not have a license and do not pay VAT (or in Italy the Partita IVA). They are illegal. The laws are not enforced rigorously enough to prevent them from their activities.

I knew this already. But the Lord showed me that these vendors are modern day slaves. They came here based on the promise of a better life, and many actually risked their lives to get here. Now they work for a boss who supplies their goods and takes their profits. They live in wretched conditions without legal documents, afraid of what will happen to them and to their families if they don’t sell enough.

The massage parlor is also a place of slavery, and there are massage parlors every few blocks throughout Milan. At first I innocently believed that the Milanese were just a very stressed-out bunch of people. But then I began to notice that the massage parlors had names like Desiderio (desire), and had pictures of beautiful women either draped as when receiving a massage or scantily clad and giving a massage. One even had a picture of one of the rooms which had a double bed. My older son is a massage therapist and he uses a massage table. The massage table is high enough not to hurt the back of the massage therapist. It is very firm, though padded, and is actually less wide than a single bed. There is no legitimate reason for a double bed in a massage parlor.

Traditionally, the police have arrested or chased away both of these kinds of slaves, succeeding only in scattering them briefly. The only country that has had any effect upon stopping prostitution is Sweden (see Nefarious Merchant of Souls for more information). The US doesn’t see much of the street vendors because the laws are enforces, but that only drives the vendors indoors, where they set up sweatshops to do tailoring or manufacturing of cheap goods, or nail salons. I would be very interested to see what we find if we investigated all the people who work in the nail salons.

There are 27 million slaves in the world today—more than in all history combined. And this is despite the fact that slavery is illegal in virtually every country of the world. We can’t afford to ignore this any longer. Money paid to sweatshops or street vendors goes right back to the traffickers. Hit them where it hurts: in the wallet. Make a decision today.

Oh, yes, and the cat? Just like that lost kitty, there are families that have lost their loved ones into the black hole of slavery, never to hear of them again. Take a walk.

Day Four

Greetings from Bologna!

I came here to see the screening of Nefarious. Nefarious is a film about human trafficking (modern slavery), the vast majority of which is for purposes of prostitution. The film is a deeply disturbing documentary which chronicles the lives of prostitutes in Europe, Thailand, and the US. The organization that produced the film is Exodus Cry (http://exoduscry.com/).

The word nefarious means extremely wicked or villainous, and that describes the traffickers and also the men who frequent prostitutes.

The girls in the film had been rescued from prostitution. Some described how they were tricked into prostitution by boyfriends who turned out to be traffickers. Others told how they had been kidnapped. Both of these went through a process of breaking-down their will and their resistance. This process involves isolation, humiliation, drugging, severe beatings, and repeated rape until all the fight has gone out of them—along with any self-esteem or human dignity.

Some girls were made to strip naked and walk in line across a stage in a slave auction for buyers to bid on. These buyers were the owners of brothels and massage parlors throughout Europe. Often the buyers would manhandle them, forcing them to open their mouth and show their teeth, checking them over like merchandise. Some buyers asked to “try the product” before they buy.

Some of the girls had been orphaned or abandoned by their parents in Eastern Europe. One described how the orphanage director had encouraged the girls to “go off with the boys and have some fun.” They were prostituting them. Then when they reached 18 years of age, the traffickers came to pick them up from the orphanage and they were never heard from again. East European girls have been trafficked into prostitution all around the world. Their passports have been stolen by their captors. They are invisible because they have no family, and usually they have no knowledge of the language in the place where they end up, except for what they need to know for working in prostitution. The traffickers prey upon the most vulnerable: orphans and children.

Anywhere there is prostitution, there is trafficking. The legalization of prostitution only helps the traffickers by giving them a “legitimate” market. But legalization in no way means that the girls are working as prostitutes by choice. The only girls in the film who had entered prostitution voluntarily had been lured by the glamour of becoming a high-priced Las Vegas call girl. They dreamed of meeting and marrying a high-roller who could give them a luxurious lifestyle. They were each disillusioned by the realities of prostitution. Part of that reality is that some of the clients are men who hate women with a murderous passion. All of the women had suffered beatings and strangling. The thing that each of the voluntary prostitutes had in common was a history of sexual abuse as children, and the low self-esteem that comes with being the victim of abuse.

The purpose of the film is to educate the public about this extreme evil that exists all over the world. The film also shows the only country in the world in which prostitution has virtually ended: Sweden. Sweden’s approach is simple and effective: severely punish the clients and the traffickers. In effect: stop the demand and prostitution stops.

Exodus Cry works on a 3 point attack: Prevention, Intervention, and Restoration. The ultimate goal is to have people who are healed: physically, emotionally, and spiritually—and not only the girls, but also the clients and traffickers, whenever possible.

So what does all this have to do with my fasting and prayer for understanding of the things to come? I believe that it is just a confirmation of darkness of these End Times days. It’s confirmation that I am on the right track by fasting and praying for understanding. Most of these girls were deceived in one way or another. When the Antichrist comes upon the world stage, he will come with such great deception that even the elect, God’s chosen ones, will be in grave danger of falling for his lies. This calls for us to be alert—super-alert! We cannot afford to coast through these days on auto-pilot.

You can get involved with Exodus Cry through: Prayer, Awareness, Reform, and Donation. Exodus Cry is above all a prayer movement. They wisely recognize that none of this will change without prayer. They also realize that nothing will change without laws that punish the men who exploit women and children. I want to encourage each of you to support Exodus Cry with your prayers and finances. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Now that you know, you have the obligation to help the “least of these.” God is good! Go do good, too!

Note: I started writing this on Friday, but got busy and didn’t finish it until today.

Yesterday I learned that there would be the screening of a documentary about human trafficking in Bologna: Nefarious. Human trafficking is an issue that I have been intensely interested in ever since attending an International Justice Mission informational event at the University of Texas.

I was an usher with the Texas Performing Arts Center. I had become an usher because a dear friend is an usher at the San Francisco Opera House. About 6 months after my divorce, I went to visit her, and she arranged for me to work as a guest usher. I handed out programs at one of the main doors, and got to watch La Traviata for free. I was hooked. Since I don’t own a television, it was a good way to get out among people and see some entertainment for free. TPA, which is on the campus of the University of Texas, hosts operas, ballets, plays, musicals, concerts, etc. They required that all ushers work a variety of events, and not only “entertainments.” These included student events like commencements, workshops, and informational events like IJM, all of which we are free to choose.

When I learned that IJM was a Christian event, I signed up, even though I didn’t know what it was. The auditorium was packed out, so I stood at the back, fascinated and horrified, and heard story after story of women kidnapped and put to work in brothels far from their homes; men who had been tricked into working off bogus debts while living captive in squalor; and even children sold into the sex trade. There were success stories of people liberated, but clearly the vast majority had not been affected yet. The most encouraging thing about that evening was seeing the response of the students. I realized that only young, idealistic, committed people could ever make an impact on the trade in human trafficking. Most people my age feel bad about the situation, but never do anything, having had our idealism beaten out of us by life.

It was only after returning to Europe as a missionary that I became aware of the prevalence of human trafficking here. I started educating myself on the subject, reading as many books about human trafficking as I could get my hands on. Over time, I started to notice just how many people in my city, and even in my own neighborhood, have probably been trafficked here. It’s shocking. A few times I have had the opportunity to talk frankly with these trafficked people, but mostly it’s not possible because they speak neither English nor Italian. Here are a few of the different slaves I have seen:

The girl from China who cuts hair 15 hours a day in a busy salon that charges prices so low they can’t possibly pay her a living wage

The man from Sri Lanka who goes from restaurant to restaurant selling flowers, bringing all the proceeds back to his “boss”

The teenaged girl from Romania standing on the street corner waiting for a man to pick her up in his car and take her away for sex

The man from Vietnam who washes dishes in a restaurant for 12 hours a day, every day, with no day off

The woman from Thailand who works all day sewing, weaving, and mending in the dingy room in the back of the tailor shop

If any of these people sound familiar to you, understand that their fellow slaves are in your town, too—yes, even in the United States. Check out the Slavery Map: www.notforsalecampaign.org/slavery-map

So that is how I became interested in human trafficking, and why I’m going to Bologna to see the screening of Nefarious. The friend who told me about the screening is Annie, a missionary from the US. In fact, we decided to go together. So I booked us a hotel room because our friends there all have full houses because of the screening. In trying once again to buy train tickets on the internet, I found that the website still didn’t work right. I don’t live terribly far from the train station, but I am busy enough that I wasn’t happy about having to go down there to do something that, in theory, I should be able to do online.

At the first opportunity, I went to buy train tickets. Usually I buy train tickets from the machine so that I don’t have to stand in the long line. The machine also wasn’t working, so I went into the ticket office. One big improvement is that there is no line now, but a machine that gives you a number instead. That’s nice. Now if they would just give us some chairs, things would be even better. When my number came up I went to the window and asked for my trains. I found that the price was slightly higher than the internet price, which might be due to being closer to the date of travel or the special priced tickets having been sold out. Still, it wasn’t much higher than expected.

As we finished the transaction, I asked the ticket seller why the train company’s website never seems to work when it comes to buying tickets online. He said, “If everything worked as expected, then there would be no surprises. We Italians have learned to live with these inefficiencies.” I replied, “I’m American, and we expect things to work as they should.” He just smiled and said, “That’s your problem. When things don’t work as they should, it’s trouble and chaos for you.” That’s when I realized that God was speaking to me through this man. It’s the same lesson He’s been teaching me since I began the Faith Trip almost 2 years ago: relax, don’t worry, and remember that God is in control of it all.

After spending our first day in prayer, worship, and planning, we spent yesterday out in the city. First we went to Mount Vodno, to pray at the Millennium Cross over the city. The Millennium Cross is the world’s biggest cross. But we didn’t get to see it up close because the cable cars up to it were down for repairs. Instead we found a scenic overlook area where we could look down upon the city as we prayed for it.

Then we divided into 3 groups for prayer walks:

The University, The National Theater, Art Museum

The Government Buildings, The Holocaust Memorial, a missionary businessman’s businesses, and the Bridge over the River Vardar in the center of town

The Methodist Church, The Orthodox Church, A Mosque, and the office of a Social Worker

I chose to go with the church group. The Methodist Church is the oldest and largest of the evangelical churches in Skopje. There we prayed for unity among the protestant churches and unity with the Orthodox Church.

From there we walked to the office of the Social Worker. Kati had shared with us the day before about the struggles in the family sector. Macedonia has many grave family issues, but few Social Workers and even less money. In fact, the government does not hire new Social Workers when one leaves. Instead, the work simply gets shuffled to someone else in the department—whether that person has any experience or knowledge about Social Work. And with all this institutionalized chaos, the need continues to grow, and more and more people come in looking for help.

As I listened day before yesterday to her explanations about the system, I could see the pain on her face. I know that if it were in her power, she would help every person who comes in for help. She was so grateful to have us come in to pray for her. It encouraged her very much.

From her office we went across the bridge and up the hill to the mosque on top of the highest hill in the city. There we sat on benches outside the mosque and prayed. Then we went back down the hill and across the river again. By this time we had walked such a lot that I was really exhausted. We stopped at a coffee shop owned by the pastor’s friend. While the pastor was talking to his friend I ordered a coffee and sat down. Then the pastor came over and said, “OK let’s go!” I slammed down my espresso macchiato and followed him to the Parliament building, where we were meeting with the two other teams. With some caffeine in my system, I felt revived—thank you Italy for the afternoon coffee habit that revives me!

We prayed at the Parliament Building and then went to dinner. There had been a sort of tension when we came to Skopje, and after our day of prayer walking, the tension was released. That made dinner a much more relaxed time.

As I looked through my pictures of the day, two of them struck me. The first is the statue of Alexander the Great, who the Macedonians call Alexander of Macedonia. The second is the picture of Millennium Cross as seen from the city. The first celebrates the accomplishments of man, while the second celebrates the victory over sin, sickness, and death—something that only God could accomplish. God is good!